NASCAR's next star? At 20, Jesse Love has arrived in a hurry and has more places to go
But boy, he came closer than most. The native Californian (Menlo Park, outside San Francisco) started racing quarter-midgets at age 5, with the blessing of his dad — as a teen, his father "Duke" Love raced with and against Jeff Gordon, who grew up just down the road in Vallejo.
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The wins and championships came fast, in a variety of cars and series, and by 13, he was granted a waiver to race against adults in a professional Late Model series. ARCA, a NASCAR-sanctioned stock-car series, has two feeder circuits — ARCA East and ARCA West. At 15, Love won the ARCA West championship.
He did it again the next year, and along the way, he relocated to NASCAR's racing hub in Charlotte, N.C. Next came the big haymaker of a season in the 2023 main ARCA Series — 10 wins in 20 starts and the championship, setting up his 2024 move to Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series.
DRIVER RANKINGS No. 1 is obvious. Who fills out Top 10 before All-Star Race?
NASCAR Xfinity driver Jesse Love waits during qualifying for the Xfinity Wawa 250 Powered by Coca Cola at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024.
In 45 Xfinity starts over the past one-plus seasons, he's won twice, and perhaps fittingly given his RCR equipment, both wins came at superspeedways — one each at Daytona and Talladega. He's slipped into Sunday equipment for three Cup Series races this year, with nothing much to show for it except experience — he'll explain that difficulty.
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He'll also explain that, yes, there was a third Xfinity win, a few weeks back at Rockingham, but it was taken away when post-race inspection found a faulty piece in the rear suspension.
He lost the official win, but he kept one reminder. More about that, and other stuff, below, from the racer who just turned 20 this past January.
Jesse Love: Big difference between NASCAR's Xfinity and Cup cars
News-Journal: You've gotten your first taste of the Next Gen cars in the Cup Series. Everyone says there are big differences between them and the Xfinity cars. Have you found that?
Love: 'Yes, there's a lot of difference. Everything about them is pretty much different. You have higher-profile tires (in Cup), bigger tires, more grip. The horsepower is about the same, but different transmission, much bigger brakes on a Cup car, and the independent rear suspension — a lot more draggy than an Xfinity car.
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'Everything is so different and they drive quite a bit different on the big tracks. On the short tracks, like Bristol, they didn't really drive much different.'
Jesse Love, this past February, after his win at Daytona.
N-J: Is it safe to assume that increases the difficulty factor when you race on a Sunday?
Love: 'For sure. The biggest thing, at the Cup level, the guys are so good already, and they've found a way to maximize their car. They know what they're looking for every week.
'You're kinda behind the 8-ball all weekend if you're not full-time, and then obviously you have the added disadvantage of going against guys that are really good and have been able to dial in their cars all year.'
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N-J: What kind of track do you prefer?
Love: 'I think there are only a couple guys in the field that can say they don't have to work a whole lot on their road-course stuff. I'm not one of them. I feel like road courses are something I can work on.
'I think the high-grip race tracks are probably where I'm the best — Dover, Bristol or even Nashville. The concrete race tracks I have a good knack for. Intermediate tracks, high banks, high grip, I feel like I do well at those kind of places.'
Jesse Love also does some driving on the golf course
N-J: You've started doing YouTube episodes on the 'Shake N Bake' show, playing golf with Connor Zilisch and Daniel Dye. You enjoying that?
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Love: 'Yeah, we started doing that about six weeks ago. It's pretty easy. We're basically filming once every three weeks, doing three shows. They make it easy for our schedule.'
N-J: Do you have an official golf handicap?
Love: 'I think it's like a 10.3, 10.1. I've only been playing about four years. The last two or three months, the only time I've golfed is during the videos.'
N-J: Who was your favorite driver growing up?
Love: 'I'd say the classic favorites, like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson. And especially guys who came from the dirt world, like Christopher Bell.'
NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jesse Love (2) talks with NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Justin Allgaier (7) in a garage Friday, July 19, 2024, during practice for the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
N-J: Since your dad did some racing when he was young, does he come to a lot of the races and ever offer advice?
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Love: 'He goes to 80 or 90-percent of the races. He raced midgets and sprint cars. He won some races. I think he was in it more for fun. He grew up racing quarter-midgets with Jeff Gordon, and they were close friends.
'He offers advice sometimes. I listen to him. He's one of the people I listen to. I'd say the best advice I get is from people who don't drive now.'
Let's talk about that Rockingham DQ
N-J: So you won at Rockingham last month and the car later failed post-race inspection (a piece in the rear suspension was out of compliance). Walk us through that. First, when did you find out?
Love: 'I'd say about three hours. I was driving home when my crew chief called me. I kinda had an idea we were gonna get DQ'd, because if tech ever takes longer than an hour, you're probably screwed. Once tech took longer than an hour, then went over two hours, I realized something wasn't right.
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'So I was mentally prepared for it a little bit, but it was a bummer. You can't control it. I just try to control what I can control.'
Apr 20, 2024; Talladega, Alabama, USA; Xfinity Series driver Jesse Love (2) celebrates after winning the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
N-J: What happened to the trophy?
Love: 'I have the trophy and I never gave it back. I normally let the team have it and we put it in the shop so everybody can see it. This one I took home.'
N-J: You got started at a very young age racing against people much older. Was that ever awkward or weird?
Love: 'It was definitely tough. They were a lot better at racing. Maybe not speed, but better at just racing. It was obviously tough, but you learn a lot more and learn a lot faster.
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'It's a double-edged sword. You're not gonna have a bunch of success, but you're gonna learn 10 times faster than if you were racing against other kids your age. It was definitely worth it.'
Jesse Love is in Year 2 of a three-year Xfinity Series contract with Richard Childress Racing.
N-J: Do you have a timeline on a potential move from Xfinity to full-time on the Cup Series?
Love: 'I have another year (after this year) on the Xfinity contract with RCR. So I guess next year is when those conversations start.'
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR driver Jesse Love, 20, in a hurry, keeping fast company
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